Holding On
by xSerrahBaratheonx
Summary: Aurora (Rory) was always careful. But what happens when she and her best friend go to a party, get attacked and she pulls through alive? What happens when her attacker returns? What happens when romance begins to flare between Greg and herself? With the clock ticking against her, it's left up to Greg to solve her case in order to save her life for a second time.


Chapter One- Slipping, Fading, Reality

The sun was bright. The heat caressed my face and leaked through my hair. The familiar sounds of birds chirping and the wind lightly blowing was a strange sensation, yet it was calming at the same time. I wouldn't have imagined that hearing something I did a thousand times before would trigger things I wish I hadn't felt at all. Gripping down on my bed sheets, I attempted to turn away from the sunlight but failed. Instead, I pulled out chunks of grass and lay stiff, motionless and painfully. '_What the hell?' _I thought to myself groggily. I turned my head slowly, despite the shooting pain that stifled through my neck and all through it. I forced my eyes open, despite the blinding rays of sunlight that was trying to fight against me to do so. Once my focus went back to normal, I looked around as best I could. To my left, there was nothing but grass, trees and more trees. And to my agonizing right, lying not even fifteen feet away from me was my best friend, Destiny. She was on her stomach; her hair was a mess and her skin was ghostly pale. I groaned and attempted to move again, this time towards her but once again failed. "Des.." I choked out. No response. I tried a bit louder. "Des." My heart froze and memories briefly shot through my head like a bad movie.

**_"Come on, Rory, don't be a chicken. Drink it!" Destiny giggled as she downed what I figured was her tenth shot. I hesitated for a moment, looking around. Some people cheered me on, others completely ignored my existence. I had already had three drinks and things were pretty fuzzy. I looked at her friend, who smirked at me and nodded. I downed it._**

**_The music blasted loudly and the kids from my school danced wildly with and around each other. I was feeling pretty good. It took a bit but he finally got me onto the dance floor, along with Destiny of course. We danced our hearts out and the booze rocketed through my blood like it was supposed to be there. I had left my drink behind but wasn't wishing for it anyways. I knew I had reached my limit and just wanted to have fun and let lose, like my best friend promised I would have the chance to. "I'll get you your drink, okay?" he said as if reading my mind somehow. Maybe my facial expression when I thought about it gave it away; I wasn't sure. I frowned slightly, swallowed hard and then nodded fast. "Okay! D-don't be too long th-though!" I slurred out. And he wasn't._**

**_Everything was a blur. I couldn't see and I felt like I was floating. I was on a bed. The room was a dark. He was over top of me. Destiny was on the floor. His breath was hot and reeked of stale cigarettes and hard liquor. "I promised you before that I'd be back." he whispered. "I'm here to follow through." Pain shot through my body. Cold metal dug deep into my body, repeatedly. In my head, I screamed so loudly the whole house shook but in reality, I could barely make a sound. I nearly choked on my own blood as the blows repeated. I became cold. Everything started to slip away. I knew._**

**_Birds, grass, trees._**

My body began to ache and my heart started to hurt, but not physically. I was weak and confused, but I wasn't stupid. I knew that the once so bubbly and loveable life inside of my best friend was gone. She was gone. Her long chestnut hair flowed over her hand like a waterfall just waiting to reach its new home. Her nails were dirty and from I could see were also caked in blood. "Des." I tried once more. It was hopeless; completely and utterly hopeless, and it was inevitable. I didn't want to believe it. I _couldn't_ believe it. I attempted to sit up but my body and the pain just waiting to be relived stopped me. I screamed out in pain and immediately went back to the way I was before. Squinting down at myself, my arm was grotesquely twisted and my once baby blue dress was soaked in blood, exposing hole; in the fabric and in my skin. I had been stabbed, multiple times, or so I chalked it up to. My eyes grew hot and tears began to stain my cheeks. Why was I there? What did I do to deserve this? What did Destiny do? I choked back as many tears as I could before finally screaming. I didn't care how bad it hurt. I screamed and I screamed until my voice cracked and it became hard to even make a sound. I prayed and I prayed that someone would hear me. That someone would find me, get help and both Destiny and I would be fine, but the sounds I had heard moments ago were still the same. Not even the sound of a twig snapping, or people's voices, not a single sound echoed in a reassuring response. We were in the middle of nowhere and no one could hear me. I continued to cry but finally began to slow down in fear of hyperventilating, passing out and then not having the chance to wake up again. I looked over at Destiny one last time, bit my lip and cried harder. She remained still, as did everything else around me. The torture of knowing my best friend was lying just out of reach, lifeless, and there was nothing I could do; was far more worse than any injury I sustained. My eyes began to drift and I began to feel weak. With a racing heart, an aching body and a head that felt like it was going to explode at any second; I fought the darkness that was trying consume me as long as I could. I knew there was no point however. Any amount of energy I had left was used when I began to scream. I wasn't even scared, just sad; sad that I wasn't more than what I was to save my own life, to save Destiny's life. The oxymoron of her name killed me inside even more. She was so much better than this. She was going to be someone; someone who was going to change the world. And now, she was going to be nothing more than another toe tag in the morgue, and then after, just another body buried deep in the ground; hidden away from all of the good things left in the world. In the end of trying to stay conscious, 'help', was the last thing I managed to mutter out as I succumbed to darkness; it triumphantly winning its battle.

**"You're amazing, Rory. Don't even forget that." **Destiny's voice echoed in my head. Everything was dark, but her voice kept me calm. **"You're stronger than this. Fight, Rory! Fight for yourself. Fight for me. Please, don't give up." **Lights flashed of blue and red but I continued to lay motionless, nearly lifeless. I had no more strength left inside of me to call out for help, let alone move to signify anyone I was still alive. I was conscious, but barely. My eyes stayed shut and my breathing was shallow, almost non-existent. I was terrified. Maybe the lights I could make out through the darkness of my eyelids were not really red and blue; maybe they were the headlights of the car that belonged to the person who attacked Destiny and I. If they even had one that is; maybe they were returning to make sure the job was done. I could hear faint voices, could make out some more lights; different lights, but none of it helped me at all, at least not at that moment. Soon enough though, I could feel someone's warm touch on my hand. As painful as it was, it was almost comforting in a sense. I knew just by their touch, whoever it was, was not out to hurt me, but attempt to help me instead. By the way whoever it was, was touching my hand, I assumed they were taking a look at my fingernails; probably for skin or blood that didn't belong to me. With everything I was, I worked it up in me to move my hand, to try and squeeze whoever it was that had a hold of me. The voices I was hearing were a bit incoherent, but I could make out some of it. The touch that belonged to the person over me moved to my wrist, checking for a pulse. "Get the paramedics down here, now. Call Grissom. She's alive." Their touch then began to fade, as did their voice. I could feel myself slipping. I prayed some more and before I knew it; everything was gone. Everything was blank.


End file.
